Preparations for the Big Move

Many people have been asking "What does your next two weeks of living in the UK look like? It has actually been a whirlwind this entire month [of May].  A few updates, and things that I have been doing.

• Update on Jobs: I can officially say that a couple weeks ago I accepted a first grade position back in my school district (not the same elementary school).  I am so excited for this new opportunity!
• Packing: Yowza, this one is a pain!  As you know, the assessment company came a few weeks back to see how much stuff we had accumulated.  Now, we have decided to ship all of the items back when Jeff leaves at the end of July.  So, to make things easier on him as he will have enough loose ends to tie up when he leaves (closing bank, canceling cable, etc.) I have started filling our second bedroom with stuff that will be shipped back to the states.  It's going well so far.
  
  
• Friends: I have a couple more friends I'd like to see before heading back.  We  have planned a few lunches, tea/coffees breaks, and dinners with close friends before heading out next week.  Looking forward to seeing them before flying out. 
  
• Sorting:  We have been selling a lot of our UK-plug appliances and things we do not want to take back home.  I have been going through things the last several months, and look forward to giving lots of things away in the next week.  It is hard to believe how much you accumulate over time, especially because we don't have a lot over here to begin with.  We get a lot of the stuff from other Americans that leave...so needless to say I have a crazy amount of cleaning supplies. We live so much simpler.  But still---lots of junk.
  
  
• Cars:  A few of you have been asking about cars. No news there, as we are just going to have to do all that once we are there in person.  Pretty pumped to get a vehicle though! 
• Welcome Home Celebrations: I know many of you are asking "When can we get together?", and I thank you all for being patient with us as we are not sure what to expect when we get back.  Things may all fall into place nicely, and we may have tons of time on our hands.  We're not sure what to expect until we experience it.  We can't wait to see you all, so we promise we'll see each and every one of you as soon as we possibly can. Lots of hugs to give out!! 

That is pretty much it for updates and what my next couple of weeks will look like.  It sure will be busy, and I am still trying to soak up as much as I can.  Real world is about to come, whether I am ready for it or not.

On to the next adventure...

Wait, What?! It is 2015!

It's the year you've all been waiting for...well most of you, that is.

What a W.I.L.D and crazy year it has been?! I cannot believe we have lived abroad for a year now.  Where in the world did the year of 2014 go? I know that time has flown by, and probably for our loyal readers as well.  I know we have enjoyed all of the amazing trips we have taken, and cannot believe we the amount of countries we've been to:

1. England
2. Ireland
3. Italy (2x)
4. Greece
5. Germany (2x)
6. Czech Republic
7. U.S.A  (2x)
8. France (2x for Sarah)
9. Scotland (2x)
10. Spain
11. Croatia
12. Netherlands
13. Belgium

All in one year...insane! We have been so incredibly lucky to travel to all of these places, and not to mention all of the mini-trips we have taken around England.  We still are checking a few more places off our To-Visit list and like I always say, running out of time to accomplish it all.

Here is a screenshot of our travel schedule.  The colors mean:

• Green = Trips/events around the UK
• Purple = Europe (outside UK)
• Orange = Visitors
• Gray = Chilled in our own city/home
• Blue = U.S.A
• Little Red Triangles = Notes on the event/location/activity

We have most of our big trips planned for our remaining time over here, and we are squeezing the other weekends with last minute local trips. We have decided to slow our trips down the last few months to prepare for the "real world". Maybe this will help ween you all off of my exciting blog posts. haha!

I'll leave you, like I did in my 6 month post, a "Best of..." list.  This time, a breakdown of Jeff's favorite destinations and then mine. Top 6...here we go!

6 + 6 = 12 (In my attempts to be artsy, 12 symbolizes our 12 month-iversary)

We hope you all had an amazing holiday season, and we wish you all the best for the year of 2015!  Hard to believe our adventure is almost over.  Exciting things happening in 2015, as we will be moving back to the states in the upcoming months.  We are already preparing for the big move, as there are many things that will need to be arranged before we get back. I mean a job...do I even know what that is anymore? hehe

I leave you with homework, yes...homework, to check out our travel map to the right of the posts (might only be able to see if you're on a computer not a smartphone).  Pretty crazy to think we accomplished all of that in 2014. I think our bodies might shut down once we move home. Future couch potatoes...

On to the next first 2015 adventure...

Busy, Busy, Bumblebees!

The last few weeks have really flown by! I can't believe it is already Tuesday night (well here, anyway) and I haven't updated the blog from this previous weekend. Things have been going really well for us over here. I think we both feel completely comfortable and living normal, daily lives.  I've been finishing up my online course for my 4th graders, and soon I'm going to start being a student again as I take a few classes to add to my educational license.  Jeff is busy, busy at work! Have you noticed he has yet to write his V.I.P blog post? I'll get him to do one, although I only have 10 more months to do so! 

As for this past weekend, we were planning on going to an outdoor cinema at one of the local historical spots...but the weather wasn't cooperating.  We did learn that the UK is being hit hard by Hurricane Bertha, so we've been getting a crazy amount of rain here in the last week or so.  The newscasters say "It is monsoon-like." ha! It makes me laugh, but we have had some hard rain. 

Jeff and I just chilled on Friday, and on Saturday we woke up to drive to Cambridge (just north of London) to visit our very good friends, Andrew & Julie.  Now if this isn't a small world, I'm not sure what is...they are on a job relocation assignment for the next year. So we are lucky enough to have some close friends to hang out with from America for the rest of our time over here. Crazy, right? So I'm sure you'll hear a lot more about the two of them and our travels together.  In Cambridge we walked the city, stopped at a few local pubs, and basically just spent some quality time with everyone.  We played some frisbee and had a nice dinner. 

 The boys are reunited...

 

Julie & Andrew

We stayed the night in Cambridge, but woke up early to head to Newbury where we visited the Highclere Castle.  Doesn't ring a bell? This is where the famous PBS show, Downton Abbey is filmed.  The exterior of the house and the grounds were amazing. We did go inside the castle, and I hate to burst many of your bubbles...but it was a letdown.  The house is currently owned and lived in by a family, so we were unable to take any photographs.  Along with the "No photography" rule, we were disappointed as the rooms were so much smaller than T.V. makes them seem.  We also realized that the show is not 100% filmed there so we were only able to see the library, entry way, Lady Sybil's bedroom, Lady Grantham's bedroom, and the dining room.  The rest of the interior is filmed off the grounds on a set.  We definitely do not regret going there, as this was on our bucket list. I am thinking we may have just put a little too much excitement on the visit. 

I was laughing pretty hard in the car when the road's name was "Road". 

Selfie. 

Part of the gardens. There was a sign that said not to touch any of the plants, as some of them are poisonous. 

Love this artsy shot Jeff got in the weeds because it reminds me of the intro to the show. 

Off I go, short post this week! It is fajita night, and some friends are coming over...so I need to get to preparing! Woohoo...Mexican food!